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Palm Tungsten T5 Update
By Larry Hendrick | February 28, 2006
November 18th, 2004. That’s the day my Palm Tungsten T5 arrived from Buy.com and I became one happy camper. The styling was the first thing to catch my eye as I opened the box, and the thought came to mind of how much it reminded me of the Palm Vx it was replamcing. My Vx had been my trusty companion for four years as of October 2004 and the T5 had gotten my attention. It was sleek and elegant, and looked like a business tool, not a toy.
I am what is referred to as a keeper. I take my time buying, so that I get just what I want and then because of how pleased I am with the product, I keep them for a long time. Cars are another example. My current car was bought nine years ago to replace a seven year old care with 247,000 miles on it. The current car has 217,000 and is going strong. And my bride, the Redhead and I have been with each other for 36+ years as man and wife, and dated for a couple before that.
This goes to the point that I don’t replace my items on a whim. I was still happy with my Vx, but the T5 styling just had that something that caught my eye, not to mention all the goodies it had over the Vx. The T5 was the first Palm with the 320X480 color screen. It has 256MB of memory, and a 416Mhz Intel processor. Comparing it to the laptop I am writing this article on with its 1024X768 color screen, 256MB of memory and 700Mhz Intel processor (see, I tend to keep things) there is not that much difference between the two and the function is quite similar.
The Palm Tungsten T5 handles Word, Excel and PowerPoint files natively and quickly. It handles native PDF files and does email and web like a champ. The last two are where the fun comes in and the newest use for my T5. At work I was given a Motorola 815 with EVDO and Bluetooth and that was enough to get me started. When working, the biggest issue I have is email response and that is no longer a problem. I can sign on, check email and sign off, all in a flash if something needs my immediate attention, I can call or just respond via email.
Music, pictures, video, games and this is one unit that allows me to work hard and play hard any where I am. Oh, and don’t forget books. I keep ten or twelve books on it at any given time and reading on a Palm is better than a book for me. The only thing I can’t do is highlight and underline something for future reference, and I think this is possible, I just don’t have the program.
There are two things I don’t currently have that would complete the combo, a wireless keyboard and a Palm WiFi card. The keyboard is the same size and feel of my trusty Dell keyboard and the WiFi would allow for faster online actions when near a hotspot. Without the keyboard, responded to email requires writing in graffiti and as fast as I am, that takes a while for anything other than a short response.
Several Palms have come out since my T5, but the only one that even tempts me is the Tx, but for what it giveth, it taketh away. It does have built in WiFi, but only 128MB of onboard RAM. That is a tradeoff I am not willing to make, and, after all, the T5 is only 15 months old. I won’t start looking for a replacement for it for several years.
Topics: Life, Technology |